Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. Full name - Raymond Douglas Bradbury (middle name after the famous actor Douglas Fairbanks). Father - Leonard Spalding Bradbury (a descendant of the English first settlers). Mother - Marie Esther Moberg, Swedish by birth.



Childhood and education

In 1934, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles, where Ray lives to this day. The writer’s childhood and youth passed during the Great Depression, he didn’t have money for university education, nevertheless, having made the decision to become a writer at almost 12 years old, Ray followed him with enviable persistence, never thinking about another profession. At the age of 14, by a lucky chance, he was hired as a screenwriter for a television show in Los Angeles, attended high school, participated in a theater club and was about to become an actor, a customwritings review was not known then. After leaving school in 1938, he did not study anywhere else.


From 1938 to 1942, Ray Bradbury sold newspapers on the streets of the city, spent a lot of time in the public library, and printed his first texts at night. In 1941, his story The Pendulum bought a magazine that published science fiction stories, and by the end of 1942 Bradbury worked as a full-time writer.


Work and creativity of the writer

In 1947, the first science fiction book, The Dark Carnival, was published, which included all the stories written by this time. In the same year, Bradbury married Margarita Susan McClure, with whom they lived all their lives and gave birth to four daughters.

The fame came to the writer after the publication in 1950 of the famous "Martian Chronicles", which talked about the colonization of earthlings of Mars and their interaction with Martians.

The next masterpiece was the dystopia “451 degrees Fahrenheit”, published in 1953, a book about a society of censorship and totalitarianism. In 1966, director Francois Truffaut filmed a novel. Subsequently, many of Bradbury's works were adapted for television and radio.

Another famous book by the author “Dandelion Wine” was published in 1957. She was different from other Bradbury books in that she was partly biographical.

In 2014, the writer received the United States National Medal in the Arts. Also on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Bradbury's name is immortalized in a five-pointed copper star. In honor of him, the asteroid "9766 Bradbury" is named, and on the Moon there is a Dandelion Crater, as a recognition of readers' love for the immortal work "Dandelion Wine".


Personal life and recent years

Bookstore saleswoman Margaret MacLure became the wife of Ray Bradbury on September 27, 1947. At first, income from stories did not bring a lot of money, so at the beginning of family life, the main earner is the wife.

The marriage was happy and lasted until the death of Maggie, as the writer affectionately called his beloved woman, in 2003. It was to her that the author dedicated the novel The Martian Chronicles, writing: "To my wife Margaret with sincere love."

Ray Bradbury and his wife had four children - the daughter of Bettin, Ramon, Susan and Alexander.

Ray Bradbury lived to be 91 years old. Life was full of unceasing labor. Every morning, at an advanced age, the writer began at his desk. He believed that creativity extends his life. The bibliography of the writer was replenished to death. The last novel was released in 2006.